Legal Question in Family Law in Nevada

You have not supplied sufficient information. The pretty complete answers to your questions are set out in detail on the Paternity and Child Custody pages of my firm's web site, posted at http://www.willicklawgroup.com/paternity and http://www.willicklawgroup.com/child_custody_visitation. Also check out the Child Support page, at http://www.willicklawgroup.com/child_support.

In brief, however, an acknowledgment of paternity carries the same legal effect as a court order of paternity -- the child has two legal parents, neither of whom has any greater or lesser rights relating to the child than does the other. That being said, if one of the parents has abandoned the child for some significant period of time, most courts would presume that the parent who has actually been caring for the child is the appropriate primary caretaker. So the first question is whether the father is on the birth certificate, and the second is who did what since the birth of the child, through right now.

You should probably seek consultation with an appropriate family law specialist. I would suggest starting your search with the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, the Nevada chapter of which can be viewed at http://www.aaml.org/go/fellows/fellows-by-state/?showResults=true&state=NV

Good luck.